


The Morning After The Day Before

by sevenall



Series: Mercy Street [16]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Mercy Street AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-22
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-06-03 19:25:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6623212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sevenall/pseuds/sevenall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of Susumu.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Morning After The Day Before

She wakes up in darkness. Her head aches fit to split and her mouth is dry. She hasn't felt like this since her university days. Feeling for the water glass on her nightstand, she finds a halfway opened package of aspirin as well. Good. She swallows three and wonders if she had an appointment with Ikkaku today. Her internal clock tells her that if she did, she has already missed it. Must have been a hell of a night.

The aspirin is starting to kick in. Feeling slightly more human, she drags herself out of bed in stages. Experience, even long time ago experience, tells her that she'd better not risk a shower until she's had something to eat. Toast, maybe. She rinses out her mouth in the sink, which doesn't help with the taste, only the fuzziness and walks out into her kitchen.

Jyuushirou is sitting at the table, reading the newspaper. A cup of tea and some toast with jam are standing at his elbow and he's studying the classifieds with a concentration they surely do not deserve. Nanao stops short.

"Oh, hello, Nanao-san," he says with a kind smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"Ah, better than I deserve." Nanao sinks down on a chair oppoxite and buries her head in her arms. "Exactly how much of a fool did I make of myself last night?"

Jyuushirou takes some time to think about it, folding the newspaper into neat squares.

"How much do you remember?"

It's Nanao's turn to think.

"I don't know…Susumu and I went to dinner and then…I really don't."

"Ah. Susumu." Jyuushirou's tone is non-committal. "How long have you been seeing him?"

"A few times. I'm so sorry, Ukitake-san."

She expects another smile and perhaps some gentle teasing about the times when she's been the one to pick Shunsui up. It's what they do for each other. She doesn't expect Jyuushirou to press his lips together in a rare display of anger.

"Do. Not. Apologize," he says tightly. "Your…friend dosed your drink at the restaurant. Rohypnol and a little something, but you should be fine now. Fortunately, you fell over before leaving the restaurant. The staff called us. Oh, and by the way, if you go back there, Shunsui is your older brother and next of kin."

Nanao puts her face into her hands. Not crying, she just can't bear to look at her friend right now.

"I'm sorry if you liked him, Nanao-san," Jyuushirou finishes.

"I did, sort of. Sometimes. Not really. What's wrong with me, Jyuushirou? Why can't I…"

In a flash, Jyuushirou is on his feet and coming round to her side of the table, putting both hands on her shoulders.

"Nothing. Nothing. You have lousy taste in men, that's all."

Smiling takes too much effort and would come out twisted and ugly anyway. She doesn't even try.

"Don't I know it, Jyuu," she says and looks away.

THE END


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